


White Rose

by novaartinoisaqueen



Series: Georgia Rawles Fan Club [2]
Category: Renegades - Marissa Meyer
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:48:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23285770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/novaartinoisaqueen/pseuds/novaartinoisaqueen
Summary: Adrian deals with the death of his mother, Georgia Rawles, and the concept of loss.
Relationships: Hugh Everhart | Captain Chromium & Georgia Rawles | Lady Indomitable, Hugh Everhart | Captain Chromium/Simon Westwood | The Dread Warden
Series: Georgia Rawles Fan Club [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1674634
Kudos: 17





	White Rose

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr nova-artino-is-a-queen and say hi!

There were only a handful of people left in the cemetery, all of them chatting quietly amongst themselves. Adrian watched as Kasumi Hasegawa pulled Tamaya Rae into a hug. They were both gripping balled up tissues in their fists, so crumpled that they were beginning to tear. Adrian wondered if they had been clutching the same tissues all day. Probably not, judging from how they both could barely keep it together for more than five minutes at a time. 

He turned his head back around, slouching in his chair. Immediately, he heard his mom’s voice in his head, telling him to sit up, or else he would get a hunchback like that villain in one of the old movies she had from when she was a kid. But he wasn’t sure if he could muster the strength to sit properly. Not today. 

Adrian Rawles was only seven years old, and he didn’t know how to deal with loss. Especially this kind of loss. Death was a concept that his mom had never fully explained to him; she usually told him not to worry about things like that. He was scared, confused, and above all, he felt as if something had been dug out of his chest, leaving him hollow inside. Empty.

When Uncle Hugh had shown up at Adrian’s and his mom’s apartment late one night last week, Adrian hadn’t understood why he was so upset. He had woken Adrian up with unshed tears in his eyes, and told him to grab whatever he might think he need as he went and told Adrian’s babysitter she could go home. Then, Hugh took Adrian and his small bag full of a few toys and a stuffed animal back to his own apartment. Adrian had questioned the whereabouts of his mom repeatedly, and grew frustrated when Hugh didn’t answer him. It wasn’t until they were at his apartment that Hugh finally told him what had happened: his mother was not coming home; she had been killed by an Anarchist.

“You remember the Anarchists, right, Adrian?” Hugh had asked gently as Adrian stared at the floor of the car. “The bad guys?”

Adrian had nodded silently. He knew his mother and the rest of his aunts and uncles, the Renegades, were the good guys, and that they fought the villains known as the Anarchists. Hugh continued to tell him how she was on her way to a special mission she was assigned to when it happened, but Adrian barely registered any of it. He remembered how first his fingers went numb, and then gradually, the rest of his body. Mom had told him before she left earlier that night that when she got home, she would tuck him in properly and kiss him goodnight, like how she did every night. 

But she didn’t.

Since that night, that horrible nightmare that was in fact reality, Adrian had been staying with his Uncle Hugh and his husband, Adrian’s other uncle, Simon. Their apartment was different than Adrian’s home. He had barely gotten any sleep in their guest room, which was smaller than Adrian’s room and doubled as an office. It didn’t feel right to go to sleep without saying goodnight to his mom and receiving her hugs and kisses. 

“You haven’t given your mother her rose yet, Adrian.” Adrian looked up to meet the sad eyes of his Uncle Simon, then back down at the white rose between his fingers. Everyone close to his mom had been given similar roses to place on her casket before it was lowered into the ground, and Adrian was the only one who hadn’t given his up yet. He shrugged one shoulder, back folding in even more. 

Simon sat down beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I know today has been hard for you, Adrian. I can’t imagine what you’re going through.” When Adrian didn’t respond, he continued. “No child should ever have to lose a parent.”

They sat in silence for what seemed like hours. Adrian kept his eyes trained on the laid out turf flooring beneath him, refusing to let the pooling tears in his eyes fall. He had already cried too much today, though he tried to hide it from everyone else. It was important that he keep a brave face for everyone; it’s what his mom would’ve done. 

“If I give up the rose,” Adrian began, voice hoarse despite him having barely spoken all day, “then she’ll really be gone, and I’ll be all alone.”

Simon’s hold on his shoulder tightened, and he pulled the young boy closer. “You’re not alone, son, and you never will be. Don’t you ever think that, okay?”

Adrian shied away from Simon’s hold. He swiped at his eyes angrily. “But I am, Uncle Simon,” he said harshly. “My mom is dead, and my dad…my dad might as well be dead, too. He wasn’t even at the funeral.”

It had been a pointless wish for Adrian to hope that a man would show up at his mom’s funeral, that he would search the room until his eyes landed on Adrian, and Adrian would think of how familiar he looked. It was stupid of Adrian to think that this man would approach him and introduce himself, and then tell him that he was Adrian’s father and that he was going to take care of him from now on. But Adrian had wandering eyes throughout the funeral, despite his distress, and he never found this man. He was crushed; his father, whoever he may be, truly didn’t care about him or his mom. Adrian remembered his mom once telling him, when Adrian had asked about his dad, that his dad just wasn’t ready for a life with prodigies, and that he hadn’t been absent from Adrian’s life because he didn’t care about his son. Before, Adrian had believed her comforting words, if only to hold onto the thread of hope that he had a loving father somewhere out there, and that this man would return one day. Now, he knew better. 

“Your father is no dad.” Out of the corner of his eye, Adrian saw Simon shake his head. “I’m sorry he didn’t show up, Adrian, but that’s not what I meant. You still have dozens of people who care about you, dozens of people who love you. Hugh and I are your godparents, and we’re taking you in, for now, at least. We will understand if you would rather live with someone else in the future, but for now, it is our responsibility to you and your mother to raise you as our own from now on, and we’ll gladly do it because we loved your mother and we love you, okay?” Again, Adrian didn’t answer. Simon sighed tiredly. 

“Your mother was an incredible person, Adrian. She was brave, intelligent, funny, and above all of that, she was one of the kindest people I have ever met. I see her in you so much, and that’s proof that she will never truly be gone. She will live on inside of you, but you have to make sure that happens.” Adrian peeked up at him then, a tear rolling down his cheek. “I can guarantee that she is watching over us right now, too. Do you want to know how I know that?” Adrian nodded, chin beginning to tremble. “Because she’s too stubborn to leave us alone.” For the first time that day, Adrian’s lip curled up on one side. It was only slight, though. “Even when she would leave you with a babysitter for her work, she would constantly check in and see how you were doing. She hated leaving you at home, and I know she hates that she can’t be by your side right now. You were her world, son, and she will continue to check up on you for the rest of your life.”

Adrian dropped his gaze down again. Simon patted his back gently, staying with him for a moment before getting up. “When you’re ready, just find me or Hugh, alright?” 

And then he was gone, leaving Adrian alone with his thoughts. 

A gust of wind blew through the canopy tent where Adrian sat before his mother’s casket. He thought back to earlier that day during the funeral and how many people had shown up. It had been in a small church, yes, but there had been people lined up along the back walls, people that Adrian had never seen before in his life. He guessed he had never realized how important his mom was to others than just him.

He had insisted on being a pallbearer, after he had asked Hugh earlier that morning what it meant upon hearing it come up in conversation. While he was too small to handle that, something that annoyed Adrian, Hugh allowed him to walk with the pallbearers, specifically beside Hugh and Simon, as they carried his mom. It had been a strange experience, but Adrian couldn’t imagine himself anywhere else; he had been attached to his mom’s hip since he was born, and he was going to keep it that way for as long as possible. Foreign faces became sympathetic at the sight of him walking with his mom, strangers offered their condolences and apologies all day, whatever condolences even meant. 

Adrian looked back over his shoulders, eyes landing on Hugh and Simon, who were standing together with a man and a woman that Adrian didn’t know. His gaze wandered to the sunny day, the blue sky and fluffy clouds. It wasn’t fitting for a funeral. 

He twisted back around to face the casket. Tamaya, his mom’s old roommate and fellow Renegade, picked it out. It was white with gold trim and decorated with lilies here and there, his mom’s favorite flower. Slowly, Adrian stood up, gripping the white rose between his trembling hands. He made his way to the casket slowly; each step was painful. When he reached the casket, he let out a slow breath, ignoring the tears welling up in his eyes. He placed a hand on the side. Just barely. Simon was right. His mom would always be watching over him because that’s who she was. And Adrian would make sure that she would live on, that she wouldn’t be forgotten. 

“If…if you’re really out there,” Adrian mumbled, sniffling. He wiped at his face with his shirt sleeve. It had been the same one he wore to Hugh and Simon’s wedding a while back. Once holding a happy memory, now not so much. “I love you, Mom. You tucked me in for so long,” his throat caught on his words as his chin trembled greatly, “now…now it’s time for me to tuck you in.” Tears fell freely down his face and to the ground. Closing his eyes, Adrian reached his hand forward and set the rose down on the casket, on top of the others. 

Feeling himself finally break for the first time since Hugh had told him what happened a week ago, Adrian Rawles laid his head in his arms on top of the casket and cried.


End file.
